Animal Procedures Committee:Annual Report 2004

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Andy Burnham) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	In accordance with Section 20(5) of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, I have placed the committee's annual report for 2004 in the Library today. Among other things the report includes;
	Changes agreed to the types of applications to be referred to the committee for advice;
	The Home Office's responses to some of the committee's completed reports—on the use of primates and on "overbreeding";
	Progress by several working groups taking forward work that the Home Office has commissioned, including on humane euthanasia techniques, statistics of the use of animals and suffering and severity;
	Progress on subjects that the committee has identified as deserving of study—on cephalopods; on lessons to be learnt from the BUAV allegations about primate use at Cambridge University and on the batch testing of botulinum toxin;
	Results of research projects funded by the Home Office on the committee's advice.

Attorney-General: Guidelines on Acceptance of Pleas

Lord Goldsmith: The purpose of this Ministerial Statement is to inform the House that I am tomorrow publishing my revised guidelines on acceptance of pleas and the prosecutors' role in the sentencing exercise; and launching the Prosecutor's Pledge. I am placing copies of both documents in the Library.
	The new guidelines develop and build on the previous Attorney-General's guidelines on the acceptance of pleas published in 2000. They provide more detailed practical guidance for prosecutors, particularly in relation to the sentencing hearing.
	The Prosecutor's Pledge for the first time brings together in a single document, in the public domain, the level of service that victims can expect to receive from prosecutors. The 10 point pledge commitments will be applicable to all prosecuting authorities in due course, and will also apply to advocates instructed by the prosecution authorities. The pledge will first be introduced by the CPS. Other prosecutors will apply the principles set out in the pledge to develop their own policies, adapting them as appropriate to meet the needs of their own particular cases and responsibilities.

National Offender Management Service

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Fiona Mactaggart) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I am announcing today the publication of a consultation paper setting out the Government's proposals for restructuring probation to reduce reoffending.
	In January 2004, the Government published Reducing Crime—Changing Lives which set out our strategy for improving the effectiveness off the criminal justice system and the correctional services in particular. The National Offender Management Service was established in June 2004 with the aim of reducing reoffending through more consistent and effective offender management. Since then a considerable amount has been achieved and this momentum needs to be maintained. The Government therefore propose to introduce commissioning and contestability into the provision of probation services to drive up standards further among existing providers and to enable new providers to deliver services where they can do so more effectively. The consultation paper seeks views on how we propose to do this.
	Copies of the consultation paper will be placed in the House Library.

Peers' Subsistence and Office Cost Allowances

Lord Brabazon of Tara: The resolution of the House of 20 July 1994 provided for the limits of the subsistence and office cost allowances to be uprated annually on 1 August in line with the increase in the retail prices index over the previous 12 months to July.
	Accordingly, the limits within which Lords may be reimbursed expenses incurred were increased with effect from 1 August 2005. The new limits are now as follows (the limits previously applicable are shown in brackets).
	
		
			  
			 Overnight subsistence £154.50 (£150) 
			 Day subsistence £77 (£75) 
			 Office costs £67 (£65) 
			 Office costs for non-sitting periods £2,680 (£2,600) (40 days @ £67 (£65))

Pension Credit

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: My honourable friend the Minister of State for Pensions Reform (Stephen Timms) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I have today placed in the Library the latest quarterly progress report on pension credit, with figures to the end of June. The report gives the number of households and individuals receiving pension credit overall, broken down by guarantee credit and savings credit and by government office region and parliamentary constituency.
	The total number of households receiving pension credit at 30 June 2005 was just over 2.7 million, or around 3.29 million individuals. The average weekly award is now £43.63.
	The figures show that there were 2.1 million households, or 2.50 million individuals, getting pension credit guarantee awards as at 30 June.
	2.05 million households, or 2.49 million individuals, are getting more money as a direct result of pension credit. The average level of weekly gain shared by these households is £20.26.
	Copies of the report are available for honourable Members in the Vote Office.

Support for British Nationals Abroad

Lord Triesman: Falling sick, being a victim of crime or facing an emergency are traumatic events under any circumstances. When such problems happen abroad they can be even more difficult and frightening. So there is no more important task for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) than its work to support British nationals in distress overseas.
	British people now make some 65 million overseas trips a year, and some 13 million British nationals live overseas. Those numbers continue to increase, not least due to cheaper and easier travel and trade and the increasing diversity of our own societies.
	Thankfully, the vast majority of those British nationals who travel and live abroad do so without serious difficulty. However, a number of factors have led over the past years to a steady increase in demand for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's consular assistance to British nationals in difficulty. Among these factors are the growth in travel and especially in independent travel to more exotic and sometimes dangerous destinations; an increase in trips by more vulnerable groups such as the elderly; the rise of international terrorism; and the increasing number of British nationals caught up in natural catastrophes around the world such as the Indian Ocean tsunami or the recent hurricanes in the United States.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has worked hard over the past years to respond to these challenges. Rapid-deployment teams are on stand-by to provide support in crises affecting British nationals around the world: they now include the first new regional teams, based in Hong Kong, which were deployed only a week after their launch to deal with British victims of the terrorist atrocities in Bali on 1 October. The FCO in London has greatly expanded the capacity of its 24-hour response centre to deal with such crises. We have reviewed and implemented changes to our travel advice to help people better make informed decisions about their safety overseas. We are ensuring that all our staff overseas have the right training in crisis management, and working more closely with organisations such as the police and the Red Cross.
	British consular staff now deal with some 3.5 million inquiries and some 85,000 new cases requiring more acute support every year. Over the past year they included some 4,200 British nationals hospitalised overseas; 3,900 deaths; around 150 cases of child abduction and 250 of forced marriage; and support to almost 6,000 British detainees. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office issues travel advice notices on 217 countries and territories; our travel advice website receives 400,000 visitors a month. Our call centre receives some 8,000 calls every month, with flexible arrangements in place quickly to increase capacity to deal with major crises. FCO posts overseas issue more than 450,000 full British passports every year, plus 11,500 emergency passports. Foreign Office staff also provide specific services such as the hajj delegation to assist British pilgrims to the holy places of the Islamic faith, and special deployments for major sporting events abroad.
	In its manifesto for the last General Election, the Government committed themselves, if elected, to consulting widely before drawing up a comprehensive statement of the consular assistance which the Foreign and Commonwealth Office can provide to British travellers and residents in difficulty overseas. Such a comprehensive guide to this support has not previously been available in a single document.
	By consulting our stakeholders before the formal launch of the document, we hope to achieve two main objectives:
	to ensure that we present this guide to our consular assistance in the best way possible. Our aim is to raise public awareness of what support our consular staff can offer to British nationals in difficulty overseas, and of the constraints on that help imposed; for example, by the very different conditions in which we operate around the world; and
	to foster a wider debate on the questions underlying our services. For example, to what extent should public money be used to help those who have got into difficulty abroad, including those who have not taken out appropriate insurance? How can we help British travellers and residents overseas better protect themselves against things going wrong?
	I am today making available to stakeholders—including representatives from the travel and insurance industries, non-governmental organisations, departments across government and organisations with which we work to deliver consular assistance—a draft text of the guide, in preparation for a consultative event to be held at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 27 October. I am also placing copies of the text in the Libraries of both Houses and in the Printed Paper Office. Noble Lords who would like further copies, or who wish to attend the 27 October event, should contact Katey Ma in the Consular Directorate, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London SW1A 2PA; katey.ma@fco.gov.uk or telephone 020 7008 1213.
	I would above all welcome the views of noble Lords on the issues raised in this statement. Comments from noble Lords should be sent to me at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Following the consultation I hope to make a further Statement to the House to launch the final text.